Wednesday, May 6, 2020
Ibsen`s Vision of the Norwegian Society Free Essays
Ibsen use of humor to present the superficiality of the 19th Norwegian Century Society. ââ¬Å"I want to feel that I control a human destinyâ⬠The Norwegian society of the 19th century forced individuals to follow a ââ¬Å"social codeâ⬠eradicating to express themselves, as the dramaturg Michael Paller in ââ¬Å"Worlds of Playsâ⬠(2007) stated how ââ¬Å"there was one correct way to behave (â⬠¦) and any antisocial behavior would be punishedâ⬠. Through this, the play, Hedda Gabler, written in 1890 by Henrik Ibsen, was masked by controversy and criticism by the publicââ¬â¢s eye since it was first performed in 1891, entitled as ââ¬Å"motivelessâ⬠and ââ¬Å"meaningless as this play presents humor as a crucial device to reinforce the main challenge for individuals to succeed in a faà §ade society. We will write a custom essay sample on Ibsen`s Vision of the Norwegian Society or any similar topic only for you Order Now Likewise, Robert M.Adams (1957) declared that humor is configured to ââ¬Å"present a radically critical commentary on the human conditionâ⬠, to demonstrate the ludicrous society by undermining Heddaââ¬â¢s final act to mock both, society and the audiences themselves for follow this ridiculous ââ¬Å"social codeâ⬠. In Hedda Gabler, one of the ways that Ibsen displays the effect of humor to address the superficiality of the Norwegian society is by presenting the faà §ade of marriage. Humor is created in the beginning of Act I through the conversation of Heddaââ¬â¢s husband, George Tesman, and his aunt, Ms.Tesman, to emphasize the only importance for Tesman as any middle-class man was to increase his social image by focusing only in his ââ¬Å"academic subjectâ⬠, which Hedda found extremely boring: ââ¬Å"Miss Tesman- Havenââ¬â¢t you anyâ⬠¦ as it wereâ⬠¦any prospects ofâ⬠¦? Tesman-Prospects? Miss Tesman- Oh, good heaven, Jorgenâ⬠¦after all Iââ¬â¢m your old aunt! Tesman-Why certainly I can talk about prospects. Miss Tesman-Oh! Tesman-I have the best prospect in the world of becoming a professor Miss Tesman-Oh, yes, professorâ⬠¦Ã¢â¬ As it is stated, Tesman proves himself to be inept socially, self-absorbed and single-mindedly focused on his work by his inability to detect his auntââ¬â¢s allusions to Heddaââ¬â¢s pregnancy which results in the audience laughter for how socially concern Tesman is for his job that he didnââ¬â¢t even care for her wife in their honeymoon. Therefore, Ibsen is mocking how the peopleââ¬â¢s superficial, main worry was to have intellectual and not interest in the love union addressing the reality of society. This makes the audience empathize with Hedda for this unequal match that the social oppression forced her to live with to maintain her reputation and avoid ââ¬Å"scandalâ⬠. Furthermore, humor rises by the way Hedda teases his rather ââ¬Å"boyish and ridiculousâ⬠husband for his enthusiasm for his ââ¬Å"academic subjectâ⬠. In a conversation with Brack in Act II, Hedda declares Tesmanââ¬â¢s company as unbearable induced through comments such as, ââ¬Å"Ah yes, right enough! Here comes the professorâ⬠, ââ¬Å"Just you stay as long asâ⬠¦ever you likeâ⬠, making the audience find these amusing and recognize how truly bored, miserably and trapped Hedda feels in her marriage. Likewise, as Eugene Webb (p.56) states how Heddaââ¬â¢s marriage ââ¬Å"became a permanent condemnation to a trivial bourgeois milieuâ⬠, representing how people felt in terms of social oppression and how society destroyed whatever faith life could bring for them. Indeed, the audience is complicit in the teasing of Tesman by the way he is presented by using exaggerated futile articulations such as, ââ¬Å"Think of thatâ⬠, ââ¬Å"Good Heavensâ⬠or even his immature reaction at the reunion with his slippers, ââ¬Å"My old house shoes Hedda!â⬠. This gift of the slippers which Hedda states that ââ¬Å"they wonââ¬â¢t appeal to meâ⬠represents everything she loathes, women providing for men, humble domesticity and vulgar sentimentality. Therefore, Ibsen uses the character of Tesman to as an easy target of laughter to reinforce the superficiality of the nineteenth Norwegian century society of how many times individuals were forced to marry others although they were unequal match, seen through the marriage of Hedda and Tesman, who he neither had the smartness nor the social class to provide a satisfying conversation with her and how his foolishness makes it easier to understand Heddaââ¬â¢s acts and see her as a human rather than as a ââ¬Å"monstrous specimenâ⬠(Franc, M.A, 1919, p.40). Moreover, Ibsen introduces humor by exploiting the thin line between tragedy and comedy to illustrate the ââ¬Å"critical human conditionâ⬠of the 19th century. It is firstly presented in a conversation between Là ¶vborg and Hedda in Act III how he had lost his manuscript and wouldnââ¬â¢t support the idea of being scorn by society again: ââ¬Å"Hedda-And what are you going to do, then? Là ¶vborg-Just put an end to it all. Hedda-â⬠¦Couldnââ¬â¢t you let it happen beautifully?â⬠By this, Hedda sees suicide as a ââ¬Å"courageousâ⬠and ââ¬Å"honorableâ⬠act for Là ¶vborg to reclaim control of his own life and because she can finally attain power over a ââ¬Å"human destinyâ⬠, to retreat to her aesthetic world to avoid dealing with the harsh realities of her life. This evidences how Ibsen uses Heddaââ¬â¢s way of thinking to address the need to attain control over her own fate and those who surrounds her, trying to demonstrate the desire to grasp such control and power to mask the failure to recognize oneââ¬â¢s own frailty and oppression to social forces. That is why the discovery of Là ¶vborgââ¬â¢s death being shoot in the ââ¬Å"breastâ⬠and not in the ââ¬Å"templeâ⬠caused ââ¬Å"an expression of revulsionâ⬠in Hedda, as the only control that she could apply over someone was completely failed and therefore, her own existence seemed meaningless. What causes vulgar humor is Heddaââ¬â¢s exaggerated disgust, ââ¬Å"Oh! Everything I touch seems destined to turn into something mean and farcicalâ⬠, Là ¶vborgââ¬â¢s death is not tragic nor ââ¬Å"beautifulâ⬠, itââ¬â¢s ludicrously futile and hollow. The audience realizes that the ââ¬Å"lovely Hedda Gablerâ⬠without ââ¬Å"beautyâ⬠, her own life has become senseless because through ââ¬Å"beautyâ⬠she yearns for freedom, an expression of a radical Romantic and Schillerian Utopia, therefore, the loss of power is a symbol of mocking her noble purpose in life and how universally condemned she is by the futile society. Lastly, humor is presented in the last scene of the play to make the audience understand Ibsenââ¬â¢s message. It is the disillusionment of her purpose in life and the recognition that Judge Brack has control (sexual blackmail) over her, being ââ¬Å"No longer free!â⬠, that compel Hedda that the only way out of this social oppression and ââ¬Å"scandalâ⬠is doing something ââ¬Å"beautifulâ⬠with her life, and that is the act of killing herself ââ¬Å"beautifullyâ⬠. Likewise, Heddaââ¬â¢s suicide is a way to prove herself and society that she is brave enough to do things that are considered untypical in society, rebelling against social expectations to endure her name in history. Heddaââ¬â¢s act of committing suicide goes alongside Jean-Paul Sartre thought. He stated that Hedda is a ââ¬Å"character creating herself, the moment of choice, of the free decision which commits her to a moral code and a whole way of lifeâ⬠, he introduces the definition of ââ¬Å"moral codeâ⬠, the sense that we are responsible for creating our ethical structure of life, thus Hedda has the imagination to make other choices, yet, she doesnââ¬â¢t take them as she lacks courage to become authentic-self by the communityââ¬â¢s narrowness and lack of imagination, that is why she married Tesman to achieve her role as a woman, although it implied misery and suffer. Therefore, the act of taking her life implies Ibsen own revolutionary ideology to break free from the convention of moral thoughts, Hedda aspires for a life beyond the values of the cold conventions and narrow social aspiration. Furthermore, the reaction of Brack by Heddaââ¬â¢s suicide results in laughter of the audience and reveals the superficiality of the Norwegian society. Brack is shocked by her suicide saying that ââ¬Å"People donââ¬â¢t do such things!â⬠Suggesting that Heddaââ¬â¢s action is outside of the social behavior boundaries. By creating humor in this scene, Ibsen makes the audience realize the noble response of society, how in the ââ¬Å"real and ideal worldâ⬠people are concerned with keeping up appearances, and how in reality the audience is laughing to themselves for their pointless actions. Ibsen is wanting to depict human beings, destinies and emotions to illustrate the criticism of society. In conclusion, in Hedda Gabler, Ibsen use of humor rises due to the difficulty of the audience to accept Heddaââ¬â¢s acts for being blinded by the rigorous 19th century society. He presents humor to demonstrate the ludicrousness and indifference of society which despises the ones that donââ¬â¢t follow the ââ¬Å"social normsâ⬠. Ibsen aspired to reveal to the audience the oppression of the 19th century Norwegian society by presenting Hedda as a ââ¬Å"humanâ⬠, to feel sympathy for the life that she was forced to live in. Robert M.Adams (1957) stated how actually Ibsen was ââ¬Å"a perfectly destructive authorâ⬠who expressed a ââ¬Å"discontent with the human condition itselfâ⬠, presenting Hedda Gabler as an ironic work, bitter criticism of life itself and society. Bibliography B., ; J. (n.d.). Hedda Gabler Act 1 Summary ; Analysis. Retrieved May 20, 2018, from https://www.litcharts.com/lit/hedda-gabler/act-1 Franc, M. A. (1919). Ibsen in England. Retrieved May 20, 2018, from https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/007126715 Henrik Ibsen Hedda Gabler. (2009, April 22). Retrieved May 20, 2018, from http://academic.brooklyn.cuny.edu/english/melani/cs6/ibsen.html Huang, J. (2016, November 17). IB English Paper 1 completely explained. Retrieved May 20, 2018, from https://litlearn.com/ib-english-paper-1-explained/Ibsen, H. (2008).à Four major plays: A dollââ¬â¢s house, Ghosts, Hedda Gabler, the master builder. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Theatre, A. C., Brodersen, E., Paller, M., Melcon, M. (2007). Hedda Gabler Words on Plays. Retrieved May 20, 2018, from http://www.actsf.org/content/dam/act/education_department/words_on_plays/Hedda Gabler Words on Plays (2007).pdf Webb, E., University of Washington. (n.d.). The Radical Irony of Hedda Gabler. Retrieved May 21, 2018, from https://www.academia.edu/10400120/The_Radical_Irony_of_Hedda_Gabler How to cite Ibsen`s Vision of the Norwegian Society, Papers
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